Training/Teaching a dog about chickens

[katyoh7]

Hi. I have 2 beautiful male German Shepherds I adopted who are 4 years old. I also have 19 chickens. I have 3 acres where my chickens forage. My dogs are out there as well. My dogs chase away other birds who try to come onto the property but have never bothered my chickens. I've had my chickens for almost a year and we all have a great time together out in the pasture. The dogs have sniffed them but have been rewarded with pecks.

Maybe I've been fortunate.

 

[Aussie Run Farm]

My 2 female dogs are Australian Shepherd/Blue Healer mix and Australian Shepherd/English Springer Spaniel mix. They are very well trained, obedient, and well exercised. From day one when I got my first baby chicks, I had the dogs with me to tend the chicks and always handled the chicks down on the dogs level to let them sniff and check them out. When the chickens started to free range I kept a close eye on them and took the dogs with me on leash to herd the chickens back when they would stray too far down the driveway. Only trouble I ever had (so far) was when the chickens would occasionally get excited and loudly take off flapping and running across the yard. The younger one was tempted to give chase but a stern "leave it" would call her off. Recently I had an aggressive Roo that jumped on the younger one. She sidestepped and looked at him like "what is your problem". 2nd time he went after her, she sternly warned him off but did not hurt him. I agree with most of the above posts. Breed, smarts, training, exercise and careful watch are all very important and can bring good results. Occasionally I have my mom's Jack Russell at the farm for a visit and all bets are off!!! She is not allowed outside the house without a leash!!! I don't have a lifetime to work with that breed!

 

[Olda Bat]

I love this thread! So many interesting comments. I rescued an adult, male German shepherd well after I had the chickens. I had no idea how he would be because he is interested in cats and chases squirrels. It was EASY training him to tend to chickens...it is his job and he loves it. From time to time, a year later, he gets a little frisky and wants to play and chase them...but no harm done. And, the chickens adore him and know he is safe. They even stand on him when there is snow on the ground, dust bathe next to where he lays, and scratch for bugs in his bushy tail.

I trained him with a muzzle on. Anytime I had him in the yard with the chickens, he had to wear his muzzle and he had to be in a down/stay. The second he popped up due to interest, I corrected him. The second he wasn't calm around them and did something I didn't appreciate, I removed him to a safe distance where he wasn't involved in the activity but could still see us. I really think dogs need to understand and learn how chickens move...so the sporadic movements and speed don't set them off by instinct. When he was doing what I liked, I treated and praised him. Easy to do in a Baskerville Muzzle. I also make going out to care for the chickens a huge game, and I make going out to collect eggs a job. He has to come with me and sit and stay while I collect. I ALWAYS show him the eggs and let him sniff them. He gets so happy that when I release him, he sprints back to the house. One day he let me know he understood what was expected of him and he wanted the muzzle off. He was adamant. I took it off, and he has been a total gentleman since. I even leave him out with them now unattended. Fu;; trust. He protects them from predators and enjoys the extra outdoor time watching his flock and interacting with them.

I agree tho with one comment...two dogs form a pack and thus can be mischief. Although my shepherd is impeccably behaved with his chickens, I would not trust him for an instant with my sister's lab that comes over. He clearly wants to eat them, and I think my shepherd would join in the chase for the fun and pack mentality.

I think there are two types of dog personalities that can be successful with chickens: 1) the couch potato dog that is pretty uninterested in anything, 2) a dog with a strong desire to work. I think hounds, bird hunting dogs, and other dogs with a high prey drive or flushing drive would be too much of a challenge. But I think patience and love is a key and the animals ultimately know what we would like them to do. I had one dog that was a disaster....I kept saying she would be a wonderful dog when she was 10. Well, it took until 11, but then she was awesome! LOL! Still would have eaten chickens though.

 

[katelk]

I'm not sure this is the best place to put this but I have some questions regarding training/teaching dogs.
I have two dogs.  One is a 4.5-5 year old female (mama) and the other is a 3 year old female (daughter of the first).  They are a mix breed.  Lots of blue heeler, corgi, australian cattle dog type looks and personality. The litter we chose the daughter from appears to have been sired by a lab breed.  They are undeniably the best childrens dogs I have ever seen or met.  My kids have climbed on them, layed on them, ridden them (before getting caught and disciplined), etc.  These dogs have never shown any aggression towards the children, they have never nipped, and only once can I recall even the slightest growl of dislike.  They are very submissive dogs: they love their bellies rubbed and will plop down for that treatment readily.  They are not spayed.
When we got chickens this spring, aggression reared it's ugly head towards the birds.  Collectively they have only killed one chicken, but countless times have gone after them.  What can I do to teach them that the chickens are off limit?  Or is it not reasonable to think this behaviour can be broken?  I feel it can but what are the opinions of others and suggestions?

We have 2 beagle mixed and a border collie. The border collie had pretty much steered clear of the chickens from the start (the hens will attack her and chase her when she gets close so she is a bit terrified of them)
Our beagle mixes initially chased the girls like crazy, but never got ahold of one and eventually lost interest. We have never let the dogs in with the chickens unsupervised. I think the combination of a supervised introduction plus yelling at the dogs for chasing eventually led the dogs to determine that the chickens weren't that fun.
However, I have heard that once a dog gets one, they are basically impossible to stop because their instincts kick in to overdrive. I am sure if our dogs discovered how tasty the ladies were, they would be unstoppable and would definitely have to be kept separate.

 

[jakenhyde]

Sadly, it has been my experience that once a dog kills a chicken, it's almost impossible to break them from it. It's very much like dogs that chase cars. The only thing I can think of is to keep the dogs and the chickens separated....and that's not always convenient if your birds have the run of the property along with the dogs.
I have a Bouviers des Flandres and he actually protects my hens(I have 24 mostly Golden Sex Link hens). My birds have the run of my 5.3 acre place here in SW Montana and Zeke lets them come right up and pick around between his legs when he's laying on the lawn in the summer.
When I got the chicks, I always let Zeke be with me when I tended to them....feeding, watering, and cleaning the brooder. He was seven years old when I got these day old chicks and seemed to be protective of him from the start.
I wish I could offer a fool-proof way to get your dogs to accept thee chickens, but I'm afraid separation might be the only solution. Sincerely, James Schwindt

 

[rainbowhatchery]

I have a small chicken hatchery along with several other critters that run around the barnyard but mainly its my chicken hatchey. I also breed Anatolian Shepherds / Turkish Kangal dogs. Unfortunately unless your really lucky most dogs are going to chase chickens and probably hurt or kill one every once in a while if you dont have an LGD breed of dog. High prey drives make chickens food and a high play drive is put through the roof with poultry because chickens like to run away causing the dog to then see it as a game. We have a bandogge mastiff that is in the house and he was raised from 6 weeks old with our chickens but he still cant be out in the barnyard without us because he will chase and jump on them to play with them. Shock collars can sometimes work but when your not around you cant shock them and punishing them 5 hours later is pointless because they have no clue what your punishing them for. Lots of people have lab breeds like you listed which are bird dogs by nature. Lots of farms have healers and collies and dogs that are herding farm dogs which by nature also like to chase. You here of dogs that are good on farms with livestock and poultry but not to many if they are not bred for that. Our dogs have been bred for 6,000 years to protect livestock and have basically zero aggression towards livestock. They work on whats called a defense drive, not a prey or play drive and are amazing family pets with kids. They live outside with the animals 365 days a year in any climate, Im in Northern MI and it was 3 degrees this morning. Lots of our puppies go to homes where people have dogs that either one hurt their own livestock or two dont really care that a predator comes in and takes a chicken every now and then. If you plan to have poultry long term you might read into LGD (livestock guard dogs) they are amazing dogs and wont pay a 2nd look to a chicken if its standing on them. They are actually known to help mamma goats and sheep clean off newborn babies and I believe it because we have sheep and they love our dogs.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in the hat...

I have two dogs ages 7 & 8 (at the time), a Mini Schnauzer and a Boston Terrier. Then I got chicks. The Boston could care less about the chicks, but my Schnauzer (being an avid hunter of anything small that moves) went after the chicks at every opportunity. She was of course kept on the opposite side of a fence at all times. She would spend 6 hours at a time whining and whimpering at the fence in the hot Arizona sun because she Soooo wanted to go after the chicks. She would jump at them when the chicks walked near the fence.

This obnoxious behavior went on for months. Then one day when the chicks were now chickens and as tall as my dog, I accidentally left the doggie door open to a free-range area that they shared -but always at opposite times. My Schnauzer wondered out the doggie door and was confronted with 9 full grown chickens. She was caught off guard and was obviously outnumbered so she did not charge in to the chickens. When she wondered close to one of the hens (RIR with attitude) the hen pecked her on the head and the Schnauzer backed off immediately. The Cockerel I had at that time stood up and flapped his wings at the dog and these two exchanges changed everything. My dog no longer whined at the fence or lunged at the chickens if they moved. That was a long time ago, and to this day my dog mingles with the chickens freely with no issues or aggression on her part -or the hens.

This summer I hatched out some more chicks. They stayed inside the house in a brooder for the first few weeks and my Schnauzer would whine to get in the room with them, but once in there she would just sit and stare at the chicks through the wires. I never let her with the babies because I figured she might hurt them in her excitement and they obviously were not big enough to be intimidating to her.

Interestingly, my Boston who didn't care one way or the other about the older chicks I started with, now was very interested in these newly hatched chicks. She would even put her face to the wires of the brooder and lick at the chicks that approached her. If I held a chick out of the brooder she would try to clean their bottoms like she had done with her own puppies (she had one litter of pups 5 yrs earlier).

So, just because a dog has not been around chickens before and acts like their Terrier Hunting Gene is about to explode, does not mean that she cannot be taught to respect the chicken and not hunt it. Every dog is different so you need to be very careful about allowing a dog around your chickens. Also, in my opinion, once a dog kills a chicken, I personally would not give them a second chance.

 

[Juley]

That is similar to what I did with my dogs. Expose them to the chickens to the point of boredom. They get used to them being around and don't really pay much attention unless there is trouble.(predators or fighting) You might leave them in the coop when the dogs are out for a while once they are out of the brooder and outside. Just a little more adjustment time for a different context of seeing the birds. Also, be careful until the chickens are big enough to be easily seen by a running dog. We had a couple of incidents with playing dogs running over young pullets. Thankfully no serious injuries. Everyone is used to each other now and keep an eye out for one another. The dogs start horsing around the hens head for the coop!

 

[Shellz]

Our small family moved to the country from the city over 4 years ago with our 35 lb. 2 year old beagle x Boston terrier. Once I got my day old chicks, I would hold one up for my curious dog to sniff. I talked gently to my dog saying he is to protect the babies. He's protected them ever since. I got super lucky with him. He chases all other animals off our property from squirrels to coyotes. Then we got a second dog, a pug cross now 2 years old & 20 lbs. I wasn't sure about her, but since I had a grown rooster, he showed her who was boss. At a year old, I saw her chase off a fox. I got lucky & have a great team.

So sometimes a dog just has really good instincts & knows or perceives what you want him to do. If you can find the kind of dog that's just eager to please you, that would be a great start I think. A good bond & some basic training (sit, stay & come) help too.

 

[Cluckminster Fuller]

I have a heeler mix. They are bred to herd animals and they will chase chickens trying to get them into a manageable group. But chickens herd about as well as cats, so the dog is frustrated and eventually will grab the chicken(s), using their mouth since that's what works. Usually they have no intention to harm--at least at first. My dog looks very confused when the birds fly. She was bred to herd SHEEP, and they never do that! My Lab mix will chase the chickens to ground and hold them in place. Either way, the chickens don't like it and I can't run fast enough to train them all. I have a friend who might be able to help me train the dogs better, but I doubt the innate need to herd will ever go away. My solution was finally to build a VERY large wire enclosure. I live in an area with lots of hawks and critters, so it helps protect my chickens from predators as well. These dog breeds are wonderful and not aggressive, but they WILL do the jobs they were bred for.